Indigobird
by Payne's Gray
Summary: Japan is has been torn apart by Britannian forces. Two boys find a way to fight against an unjust world. Gen. Some language. Character Death. Unbetaed.
1. Prologue

Indigobird

* * *

The older, Japanese boy stood over him, silently watching him cry. It made Lelouch angry. Why was he just standing there? Why didn't he say anything? He should be cursing him, hitting him, killing him for what his countrymen were doing. Anything but this – this silent vigil he was keeping over Lelouch as he grieved.

Yesterday his sister had died. The small, crippled girl killed by stray gunfire. Lelouch had been next to her, holding her, thinking he was protecting her as they hid from the Britannians attacking a band of resistance fighters. If only he had been a inch to the left, then it would have been him that died and not his sweet, innocent sister.

It should have been him…

He buried Nunnally's body in a shallow grave he'd dug with his hands. A small stack of stones were the best he could do for a marker.

Then he picked a direction and walked. He walked until his legs gave out. Laying face-down in the dirt, he felt an odd sense of peace. He was ready to die. His anger at Britannia and his father, his need for revenge for his mother's death, was all forgotten. Living was too painful. If there was an afterlife his mother and sister were there waiting for him. He was ready.

Then he woke up.

He didn't understand at first why he was being carried. He hadn't been carried by anyone in a long time. Not since he was Nunnally's age. Nunnally…

_Nunnally!_

He pulled free of the person carrying him. He collapsed to the ground. The memory flooded back. His little sister. A small hole between her eyes. A much larger exit wound that made him sick to look at.

Tears clouded his vision. His throat tightened. He struggled to breathe. The boy who had been carrying him watched his tears fall into the dirt. He didn't say a word the whole time. Lelouch couldn't take his silence anymore.

"Why?" Lelouch growled out. His voice was hoarse from crying. "Why didn't you just leave me there? I wanted to die!"

The boy stared down, his dark, narrow eyes judging him. He shook his head. "It's not time to die. Not yet."

Lelouch clenched his fists until his nails were biting into his palm. "They killed my sister!" he screamed at him. "They took everything from me! I don't have anything to live for anymore!"

He didn't see the fist coming, but he felt the pain in his cheek all to well. The ground hurt, too.

"Stupid little herbivore," the boy said before he kicked him over on his back. "You have your life. That's more than most have."

More than Nunnally had.

Lelouch looked away, guilt overwhelming him. What would Nunnally think of him now?

The boy reached down and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. He pulled Lelouch to his knees. Cold steel-gray stared deep into violet. "Live. Get stronger. Make them pay for what they've taken."

Make them pay…

His mother, Nunnally, Suzaku's father… how many other lives had his father's empire destroyed? Someone had to do something. Someone had to make a stand. Make them pay. He would do it. Somehow, someday, he would burn Britannia to the ground. He couldn't let himself die before then.

Lelouch remembered the promise he had made to Suzaku. "I will obliterate Britannia," he repeated his vow, reaffirming it to himself.

The boy smirked and nodded, then he lifted Lelouch onto his back. His arms hooked under his legs to support him. Lelouch made a noise of indignation but didn't fight. His legs were still too weak to carry him for long.

"Hibari Kyoya," the boy said.

"Lelouch…," he said then paused. "Lelouch Lamperouge."

* * *

End.

A little crossover/fusion. So, I have no idea when I'll get around to continuing this… Also sorry for killing off Nunnally. It wasn't personal, honest.


	2. Chapter 1

AN: For the purpose of this fic Hibari is a year older than Lelouch, and two years older than Tsuna.

* * *

Chapter 1

* * *

They arrived at a refugee camp a few hours later. It was an old warehouse of some sort surrounded by a chain link fence that had been knocked down in several places. It didn't look very secure or welcoming, but it was better than sleeping on the side of the road.

Hibari let Lelouch down and the two boys approached the gate. A pair of armed Japanese men stood guard. Lelouch tensed as they got closer. He was certain that, somehow, these soldiers would recognize him as a Britannian prince. He kept his head down and hoped they wouldn't notice him. He had no such luck.

"The hell? What's a Britannian brat doing here?" The boys stopped in their tracks. The man made to grab at Lelouch, but Hibari pushed the younger boy aside and out of reach.

"This is for the people whose homes your kind destroyed," the second guard spat. "Not little Britannian shits like you."

"He's my brother," Hibari said in a cold voice, keeping himself between Lelouch and the men. The guard's eyes flicked between the two boy's faces. Hibari amended his statement. "Half-brother."

"Tch, damn half-breed," the second guard sneered in disgust. "Go on then. Better watch him. There are plenty who won't care how much Britannian is in him. Skinny thing like him will break easy." Then he looked Lelouch dead in the eye and smirked. "Sleep with one eye open, boy."

Lelouch shivered at the implications. Hibari grabbed his arm and pulled him past the guards.

Hibari found them a small, but secluded spot in the corner of the building. The other boy made a sort of curtain from old tarps to give them an illusion of privacy. Lelouch didn't ask were he had gotten them. He honestly didn't care.

The first night, Lelouch couldn't sleep. He stared up at the ceiling of the warehouse. There were holes were explosions and bullets had pierced the metal roof. It would be a problem when it rained, but the sky was clear that night. Lelouch could see stars through the holes.

He thought about Aries Villa, back when his mother was alive and Nunnally's eyes could open. He remembered pointed out the constellations to her, explaining how they connected to form animals, and beasts, and heroes of legends. Nunnally would crinkle her nose and tell him it didn't look much like a lion to her.

Hot tears slid down his face.

"Here."

Lelouch turned. Under the dim light of the stars he could just barely make out Hibari with his arm extended toward him. A scrap of cloth in his hand. Lelouch swallowed against the lump in his throat.

"Thanks," he said, accepting the cloth. Though, he wasn't sure he'd said it loud enough for the other to hear. He could feel the boy watching him wipe away the tears.

"I used to cry," Hibari said. To Lelouch it sounded like a confession. "After my parents were killed, I cried a lot. It was the early days of the invasion."

Lelouch's heart sank in his chest. Deep down he'd already known this was Hibari's story. His country was being invaded. Innocent people were dying everyday. But hearing it hit him harder than he expected. Hibari had helped him, and it was his father's war that killed his parents.

"Then," Hibari continued with a soft sigh, "I stopped crying. I decided I wouldn't be weak. I wouldn't be an herbivore to be preyed on. I would get stronger and make them the prey.

"You're an herbivore, but that's okay." Hibari smiled at him. "I'll protect you… otouto."

It wasn't a knight's oath – to protect and serve until death – nor was it the promise of friends to look out for each other, but it warmed Lelouch to know that someone did care what happened to him.

Over the next few days Lelouch found Hibari had a distaste for people in general, and avoided them when he could. It suited Lelouch just fine. The fewer people around the less chance there was of someone taking their frustrations out on him.

It had happened only a few times. A grief stricken mother whose child had been gunned down by Britannian soldiers. A man who didn't think he deserved to eat when his own children were hungry. A gang of boys whose homes had been bombed. Each time Lelouch got more bruises than he'd ever remembered having. He was immensely gratefully for Hibari, who's unnaturally good fighting skills and near omniscience had saved him each time.

"Why don't you care that I'm Britannian?" Lelouch asked, after Hibari had rescued him from yet another beating.

The boy glanced at him with a furrowed brow. "You're not Britannian." Lelouch opened his mouth, but Hibari cut him off. "You're _not_ Britannian. If you were I would bite you to death."

Lelouch wondered if Hibari would feel the same if he knew who he really was.

Things in the camp only got worse. Tensions rose as Britannia tightened its grip on Japan. Support for the camp was dwindling.

It was the renaming of Japan that was the final straw. A man, screaming he was not a number, pulled a knife on Lelouch. Hibari took the knife and put it in the man's thigh. The boys decided it was time to go.

* * *

The Japanese government was quickly dissolved over the next few months. Elevens were made to turn over all weapons or face imprisonment. Clovis, the Third Prince of Britannia, was named Viceroy to Area 11. It was a grand event, broadcast all across Area 11. Lelouch and Hibari watched him on an old black and white television. The picture faded in and out, and the static nearly drowned out the sound.

Lelouch translated for Hibari, who only knew a handful of Britannian words – all of which were insults. The young, blond prince gave his deep, heartfelt condolences to the Elevens who had lost loved ones during the war. He asked the people to please join him in creating a better future for Area 11 so that their deaths would not be in vain.

Lelouch had never been so disgusted by his half-brother. When it was over Hibari smashed the T.V.

* * *

A year after the invasion the boys found a more-or-less permanent home. It was a small, rundown building that was probably a shop of some kind before the war. There were others vying for the space, but Hibari ran them all off quite effectively.

Hibari sought out fights wherever he could. Every night he would come back covered in new cuts and bruises. A month had passed before Lelouch finally had enough.

Violet eyes burning, he turned on the now twelve-year-old. "I thought you wanted to live. What happened to getting stronger? To making them pay?"

"I'm doing it." Hibari bit back, grabbing a water bottle out of Lelouch's hand and placing it against his blackened eye. It would have worked better if the water were actually cold. He laid down on the thin mattress on the floor.

Lelouch hissed at the battered boy, "Idiot! Getting yourself killed is what you're doing. Going out there and getting beat up by teenagers isn't going to bring down Britannia!"

"I always win."

"Until you don't! Eventually someone's gonna get sick of a stupid Eleven kid," Kyoya snarled at the number. Lelouch pushed on, "that thinks he's better than them. And then what?" And then Hibari would be lying in some alley with an hole through his skull.

Hibari quieted as the words sunk in. Lelouch turned away, unable to look at his swollen, black eye and split lip.

"I'll… be more careful," Hibari relented.

Lelouch nodded, and let out a relieved sigh. "Good."

Hibari stared at him for a long time. Lelouch refused to fidget under his gaze. He glared back.

"What?" He demanded.

"You're weak."

Lelouch raised an eyebrow indignantly.

"You're too thin, too slow. You can't fight to save your life. We start training tomorrow."

"So you're just going to trade beating up strangers for beating up me?" he asked, more than a little horrified. Suzaku had tried to teach him to fight once. By the fifth time Suzaku knocked him to the ground, he had flat out refused to get up again. Suzaku had been a terrible teacher, but Lelouch had no doubt Hibari would be worse.

Hibari smirked, taking pleasure in his discomfort. "Training, otouto," he corrected. "The point is to teach you how _not_ to get beat up."

Lelouch frowned, the faces of his real older siblings flashing in his mind. "We're not brothers."

There was no warning before Hibari chucked the water bottle at him. It struck Lelouch hard in the face, knocking him onto the floor.

"Ah! You _bastard!"_ He shouted and cradled his face in his hands. A stinging pain bloomed across his cheek.

Hibari rolled onto his side, his back to Lelouch. "Get out. I'm going to sleep. If you wake me up I'll bite you to death."

Lelouch clenched his jaw. Hibari rarely threatened him, but Lelouch knew better than to think he wouldn't deliver on that threat. Throwing on his coat, Lelouch stormed out the door.

* * *

Namimori Middle was reopened as a school for Honorary Britannians. Under Britannian law, public education for Elevens was only offered to children whose parents had Honorary status. Neither Lelouch nor Hibari met criteria for admittance, but that didn't stop them. Lelouch stuck to the lie of being Hibari's half-brother, and his test scores were impressive enough to make the Admissions Office look the other way.

Hibari's admittance had been a bit more difficult to arrange. The Japanese boy had outright refused to apply for Honorary status. The older boy's own scores were nothing to scoff at, but it was Hibari's intimidating nature that got him a place at Namimori. Judging from the way the faculty went stark white whenever they saw him; they were all far to scared to refuse. One day Hibari showed up wearing an armband declaring him head of the disciplinary committee. Lelouch was sure he hadn't gone through any official channels to get the position.

The classrooms were pitiful compared to what Lelouch had known growing up. The textbooks were written in Britannian and full of propaganda. They didn't have much choice, however, and Lelouch took to tutoring Hibari in the language. In exchange, Hibari made good on his threat to train him.

Every night after school, the older boy would pummel him into the ground. Lelouch regretted ever telling him to stop fighting.

He lay face down after Hibari had delivered a brutal kick to his abdomen. He really didn't think he deserved this.

"Get up, otouto."

"No," Lelouch refused, stubbornly. He never wanted to move again.

"Get up."

"So you can knock me down again? I don't think so."

He took a threatening step towards him. "It doesn't matter to me if you're on your feet or not," said Hibari, his voice low the way that meant business.

A chill ran down Lelouch's spine. He reluctantly pushed himself onto his feet, his body aching as he did. He braced himself for another hit… but it never came.

Instead Hibari relaxed his stance. "You're getting better. It takes longer to knock you down. You're better at seeing attacks coming and preparing for them. Soon you'll be able to avoid them altogether."

Lelouch felt his face heat. Hibari had never praised him before, especially not at something he was so obviously miserable at. "I – thank you."

Hibari nodded, his expression blank, and turned back towards their home. "We'll continue tomorrow. Get some rest."

* * *

Chapter 1 End.

Some Hibari/Lelouch bonding! I said I didn't know when I would update this… and then immediately started writing.

Otouto is Japanese for 'little brother'.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2

* * *

Five years had past since Britannia waged war and conquered the island nation of Japan. Five years since the only family he cared about had been lost. Five years since he had chosen to live. Lelouch vi Britannia was now Lelouch Lamperouge.

He moved his black queen forward, dealing the finishing blow to his opponent's white king. "Checkmate."

"What!?" exclaimed his opponent, the son of a duke and two-times Ashford Academy Chess Club champion. His Ashford uniform looked freshly pressed and his shoes shined like they had never touched dirt. He'd probably never gone a day without three meals, either. "How-?" He stared at the board as though trying to find some mistake that meant it was really he that had won.

One of the two Ashford students that had accompanied him burst in to loud, belly laughter at his expense. "Ahahaha! Oh man, that commoner creamed you."

The other, a girl with long blonde hair and manicured nails, crossed her arms over her chest. "You suck, Royce." Royce flushed an angry red.

Lelouch carefully kept his face void of any emotion, but he couldn't help but feel satisfaction at the older teen's distress.

"It was a fine match," he said, keeping his voice pleasant but not overly so. "One of the best I've had. It is always a pleasure playing with nobility. You would be surprised how many low borns will resort to accusations of cheating when defeated. More still will refuse to pay the victor their earnings." Lelouch shook his head and donned a carefully constructed frown of disapproval. "No more honor than a petty thief, if you ask me. It is good have an opponent who is above such things."

Royce's face turned redder and Lelouch wondered how he could stand clenching his jaw so tight. It had to hurt. Royce's eyes flicked between the two other Ashford students, who nodded their agreement, before settling on Lelouch again. With obvious effort, the boy composed himself.

"Yes," Royce said stiffly after a drawn out silence. "Of course. A man of noble station must always honor his word." He drew his wallet and placed the money on the table. "As you said, it was a fine match. Perhaps we could have a rematch sometime?"

The thinnest hint of a threat in his tone set Lelouch on edge. Best to burn this bridge now than risk it collapsing under him.

"Thank you, but I don't think that would be possible. Besides, I nearly lost this match. What are my chances of getting lucky twice?" The teen was still glowering as Lelouch collected the cash and left, but he didn't think he'd be tailed this time.

Chess, it turned out, was a lucrative business. Lelouch was a master at the game and there was never a shortage of opponents willing to wager a lot of cash. Of course there had been some challenges involved. Not all of his opponents handled losing all that well. Several had refused to pay up, and more than a few had gotten violent. Those were days he'd actually been grateful for Hibari's training. It would have been easier if he could have passed himself off as someone of higher birth, but there was only so much money they could waste on clothes. And wearing designer labels around the Namimori? He might as well paint a target on his back.

Yet, with all the challenges and risks involved, a single game still got him more money than a weeks worth of honest work would have. And more than mere survival, taking something away from Britannians felt like _justice_.

* * *

It was dark by the time he got back to the apartment. The lights were off and the door was locked, but when he stepped inside the first thing he saw was Hibari's black jacket with the pinned on armband draped over a chair. Lelouch sighed and set his earnings on the table before heading back out the door.

He found the Japanese teen exactly where he thought he would. "Wouldn't they prefer milk?"

Hibari glanced up over his shoulder at him before turning back to pet the little grey kitten. "Milk is bad for cats. It makes them sick."

An image of adult Hibari working in vet's office flashed in his mind.

Lelouch knelt beside the older teen and watched the mother cat and her four young babies lap up the water. "You do know our building has a 'No Pets' policy, right?"

Hibari only grunted in response, but the slightest downturn of his lips told Lelouch how he felt about it. Hibari was weird when it came to animals, and animals were equally weird when it came to Hibari. It was like some kind of gravitational pull. Lelouch was certain Hibari was the only person in the world to _actually_ have a dog follow him home. Unfortunately, neither of them were exactly equipped to handle a pet.

"Just don't get us evicted again. I just got enough to cover our rent and groceries. I think I can stretch it enough to get new clothes. Your jeans are getting holes in them."

"And yours are getting too short," Hibari noted, eying the hem of his jeans that were just high enough to see his socks. Lelouch frowned. His clothes weren't that old or worn, but at he'd gone through a growth spurt and at fifteen years old, he no doubt had more growing to do.

"I'll head down to the store after school."

"I'm going with you."

That surprised him. "What? Why?"

"Kensuke lives near there."

Lelouch huffed, "I can handle Kensuke." Kensuke was handsome, popular, athletic, and loud. And he'd made Lelouch a target from the moment the two of them laid eyes on each other. Unfortunately for Kensuke, he wasn't exactly the brightest, and he had a bad habit of hitting on girls that weren't interested.

"I know you can, otouto, but he's been annoying me lately. If I just happened to run into him..." Hibari smiled and scratched the black-spotted, gray kitten behind the ear. His eyes were distant, no doubt imagining all the unpleasant things he could do to the boy.

* * *

"Hmph," Hibari said for the seventeenth time. Leouch had been keeping count.

"If all you're going to do is complain, I don't know why you bothered to come."

Hibari responded with another, "Hmph." Eighteenth.

Lelouch just shook his head and went back to trying to bargain with the sour old shop keeper over a pound of rice. Hibari had been disappointing when they hadn't crossed paths with Kensuke at the clothing store. He'd been sulking ever since. Usually Lelouch would be less tolerant of this behavior, but they had each been able to buy a shirt and pants that actually fit them, so they were both in a fairly good mood. Lelouch even had the forethought to bring their old clothes along and managed to knocked the price down by exchanging them. So now they had more to spend on food. That said, Lelouch was still going to haggle over every single thing.

"You expect me to eat this?"

"I stopped expecting things from you a long time ago," Lelouch said, placing the potatoes he'd just bought for much less than the marked price into his bag. "If you don't like it you can find your own meal, but I'm not letting you be in charge shopping again." That had been a mistake. And a terrifying ten minutes he'd never forget.

Hibari muttered something under his breath, but when Lelouch looked up, Hibari was gone. He looked up and down the street, but there was no sign of the Japanese teen. Lelouch cursed, he hadn't meant _right now_.

He shook his head. Hibari would come back, probably by sneaking up behind him to 'test his reflexes', or maybe he would just go straight home. Either way he would show up eventually. Most likely with some dead plant-eating animal for Lelouch to cook.

He made several successful purchases before one of the vendors started to get annoyed. He decided to call it a day before the man started hurling accusations of swindling at him. Hibari had still not returned. He was leaning against wall of a store, which had been a sushi shop at one time judging by the half painted over hirigana, debating whether or not to wait for him when they arrived.

There was hardly any warning before the police vehicles came barreling in — the blaring sirens having been cranked up just as they came to a halt in front of the marketplace. Officers dressed in full riot gear and armed to the teeth started to file out. The effect was instantaneous and predictable. People panicked. They pushed their way to the apparent safety in nearby buildings. Lelouch ducked down behind some garbage cans near a storefront. It was unlikely they would hassle him, but it was better if they didn't see him.

The police started to pair off into several groups and head into the buildings. Systematically, they grabbed people from inside their homes and businesses and dragged them out into the street.

This was bad. Lelouch had no idea where Hibari had disappeared to. If the Britannians tried to take him… But the Britannian police didn't just round people up indiscriminately. They were after specific people, or at least specific _types_ of people. Lelouch saw business owners and adult men made up most of the people taken. They were after community leaders — the people they believed had the most sway and could make the most trouble. Hibari was just an Eleven teenager to them, Lelouch told himself. So as long as he kept his head down he'd be fine.

A sudden commotion nearby made Lelouch look up. A middle aged Japanese man was being pulled roughly — too roughly given that he wasn't putting up a fight. They threw him to the ground and pulled his arms back behind him in way that looked painful.

"Dad!" shouted a tall Japanese teen running to towards retrained man. Immediately, the two Britannian officers turned their firearms at him and ordered the boy to get back.

"Takeshi! Go back inside," said the man, his voice wavering with fear for his son.

But the teen did not listen to his father. Fists clenched, he turned to the officer in charge. "He hasn't done anything wrong! Why are you doing this?" he demand, heedless of the danger he was putting himself in.

"Impudent Eleven!" The Britannian growled. "Has no one told you to respect your betters?" Lelouch saw the Britannian place a hand on his holster, and his blood froze in his veins. He was going to shoot him! The boy was going to die if someone didn't do something.

"Wait!" the father cried, lurching forward despite the pain it must have caused him. "Please," he begged, "he's just a boy, he doesn't know what he's doing." He turned to his son. "Takeshi, go inside now. Everything will be alright."

The boy locked eyes with his father. He stared at he man, on his knees, arms pulled behind his back, and a bruise beginning to form across his left cheek. The boy swallowed, cast his eyes down and nodded.

"Hmph, smart kid," said the officer, as he removed his hand from the firearm and turned to his subordinates. "Round this lot up," he barked. "I want them in interrogation in an hour."

"Yes, sir."

Lelouch watched them drag the man to his feet. He and roughly a dozen other Japanese men and women were pulled from their families and thrown into the backs of Knight Police vehicles. Hibari, he was relieved to see, was not among them. They were gone as suddenly as they had arrived.

Slowly, people began to move about. Some locating friends and family that remained, others comforting those whose loved ones had been taken. Lelouch rose from his hiding place. He hesitated before entering the former sushi shop, where the man had been apprehended. He knocked twice before pushing the door open.

His eyes took a moment to adjust to the darkness. When they did, he found the boy huddled in the corner, furiously wiping the tears from his cheeks.

"Hello," Lelouch said meekly, trying not to startle the teen.

Despite his efforts the boy still jumped at his voice, then turned to glare at him with watery eyes.

"I know you, don't I?" Lelouch asked, taking slow steps towards him. "You're Yamamoto Takeshi. Namimori's star baseball player."

The teen nodded. "Y-yeah. That's me. Who are you?" Yamamoto asked, and tried to blink away his tears as to see him properly.

"Lelouch Lamperouge. I'm-"

"The Disciplinary Committee President's brother," Yamamoto said automatically.

"Yes," said Lelouch shortly and Yamamoto flinched.

"Sorry."

Lelouch shrugged. He was used to it. "I saw what just happened," he said leaning against the wall before sinking down to sit on the floor. "I'm sorry."

Yamamoto stared at his empty hands. "I don't understand. Dad's got nothing to do with any terrorists. We're Honorary Britannians! He wouldn't risk everything we've got by supporting that. He's innocent. Why would they take him?"

"I don't think they care much about who is or isn't guilty. The police have quotas to fill."

"What are they going to do to him?"

Lelouch looked away. The outlook for Mr. Yamamoto was pretty bleak no matter what happened. "Best case, they'll hold him for a few days. When they can't get anything useful out of him they might let him go." After they have thoroughly interrogated him, Lelouch refrained from mentioning. "But if they think he's involved with something…" he trailed off. He glanced back at the other boy and saw Yamamoto's fists clench.

"They'll execute him."

* * *

Hibari arrived home shortly after Lelouch. The two boys exchanged looks, checking each other over for anything odd or out of place, before heading off to bed without a word.

Lelouch stayed awake thinking about Mr. Yamamoto. It wasn't right, what had happened to him. Lelouch wanted to do something – _anything _– about it, but how? He wasn't strong enough to take on the Knightpolice. If only he had some power that could help him. Wishful thinking wouldn't help anyone, though. With a resigned sigh, Lelouch rolled over and closed his eyes.

Elsewhere, unknown to him, a letter was slipped into a mail box introducing a home tutor.

* * *

End.

Plot?

I don't know why I am updating this now. It is 4am and I have so many more pressing things to be working on. I'm just really in a KHR! mood.


End file.
